This past fall, I ran the How To Eat An Acorn with Daniel Vitalis. While creating the course, I found myself so inspired to create a variety of uses for this noble fruit of the oak tree. One of the recipes I put together was a simple skillet bread, which basically was an adaptation to my Fluffy Cornbread recipe you can find here on the blog.

This past weekend family and friends from Maine and Connecticut came to celebrate back to back birthdays for Wilder and Camille. Since their birthdays are 1 day apart, the festivities tend to go on for a few days. With Camille turning 30 and Wilder turning 4, this was a special weekend for the family.

My first culinary school experience I can recall was cutting mirepoix for soups and stocks. Myself and a small group of students stood around the prep tables, nervously cutting carrots, celery, and onions while our chef instructor took notes on our knife skills.

We love our coffee program here. In fact, we couldn't imagine starting off our day with anything other than a cup of coffee. A few months ago we decided to take a week off from coffee. Yerba mate, Camille's mom's famous Red Tea, and of course chaga made for perfect alternatives yet after 1 day we were back sipping on our butter brew. You can say we are addicted to the caffeine, but quite frankly, it is the morning ritual and damn good flavor that keeps us coming back for more of this sacred drink.

There's something about sitting by a camp fire, listening to friends play music while sipping on good wine and roasting marshmallows. We feel fortunate to live close to the Common Grounds Fair which took place last weekend in Unity, Maine

Warnings of a blizzard stretched across the social networks continuously yesterday adding a sense of urgency as well as enjoyment to our day. Knowing that the ground would soon be blanketed, I spent most of the day scrambling to put away tools that were spread across the frozen but bare grounds around the property. After the January thaw, we haven't seen much more than a flurry or two, so we were pretty pumped to kick winter back into gear.

Blizzard Nemo

For the last month I have been eyeing the fresh turmeric at the coop, an ingredient I regretfully don't often get to use. It's pretty intense when fresh, so a little goes a long way. This recipe is reminiscent of my time spent in Bali in 2010. Every day, my amazing Balinese staff would whip up a batch of sambal mattah, which is a seriously good condiment that I would use on just about every savory meal I would eat! This recipe show a little love for my time spent in paradise. It takes a little bit of love and attention in the beginning, than you can sit back and allow the chicken to cook slowly and absorb all the wonderful flavors. Feel free to add a couple of chili peppers if you're in the mood to heat things up!

Slow Cooked Chicken Curry

Ingredients:

6 bone in Chicken Thighs

1 medium-sized Red Onion

4 ounces Shiitake Mushrooms, stems removed

2 Tbsp fresh Ginger

4 Garlic Cloves

2 Tbsp fresh Turmeric

1 can Coconut Milk

4 Swiss Chard Leaves, roughly chopped

1 handful Icelandic Moss or Kelp (works as a thickener)

Fresh Lime, cut into wedges

Preparation:

First give your chicken thighs a good seasoning of sea salt and black pepper. Season both sides!

Heat a 6 quart Dutch oven over high heat. Add a few Tablespoons of fat and once you see a small amount of smoke start to rise, add the chicken, skin side down. if the pan is hot enough, the chicken should not stick. Reduce the heat a touch and really allow the skin to render itself and crisp up nicely.

While the chicken is browning, prepare the veg. Cut the onion into a large chunks and slice the mushrooms into 3rds, set aside.

Peel the garlic, turmeric, and garlic, then roughly chop. Combine them all and chop until well combined and minced, set aside.

Once the chicken is nice and brown, flip and cook for a few more minutes, then remove from the pot and set aside. Add the onions and shiitake's, cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring often.

Stir in the garlic-ginger mixture and cook until fragrant.

Add the chicken back to the pot and pour in the coconut milk and then fill the coconut milk can with water and add that.

Bring to a boil then cover, reduce heat, and slowly simmer for 30 minutes. Stir in the moss and chard and cook for 10 more minutes.

Season to taste with sea salt or Nama Shoyu. Serve over purple rice or roasted sweet potatoes and a squeeze of lime. Enjoy!